Category: Panel Discussions

DOC Northwest is proud to support and collaborate with VIFF in hosting an industry panel focusing on Rethinking Documentary Marketing.

👉with PR expert Nicola Pender, Executive Director Sue Biely, and award-winning storyteller Sarain Fox, sharing three marketing pathways to raising the profile of documentary films. Moderated by Kevin Eastwood, DOC Northwest.

Join us with an Artist & Industry Pass

DOC welcomes Telefilm to talk about coproduction for documentary films with a focus on specific areas of flexibility for docs.

The event will be available in both English and French

Please note that this event will be available to DOC members only. For this reason the zoom link is available on the DOC National Webinars page.

DOC welcomes representatives from the Canada Media Fund to present changes to their 2024/2025 guidelines that have an impact on documentary production.

This event will be available to DOC members only. For this reason the zoom link is available on the DOC member benefits page.

DOC’s session as part of Hot Docs 2024 Industry Conference and Market

Info:

The Documentary Organization of Canada begins its 41st year in the midst of some seismic shifts across our sector: massive cutbacks at Canadian broadcasters and American streamers, restructuring at the NFB, the explosion of artificial intelligence, and a complete overhaul of Canada’s audiovisual policy. All under the shadow of a federal election in fall 2025. Needless to say, there is the potential to get an enormous amount done over the next year and a half. Join DOC’s Executive Director Sarah Spring for a roundup of DOC’s advocacy work and everything documentary-policy related.

DOC Institute’s Meet the Funder series is back!

Join DOC Institue for a virtual conversation with Natasha Negrea (Head of Programming) and Alexandra Roberts (Commissioning Editor, Documentaries Programming and Content).

The session will be free to attend. Stay tuned for registration details!

📅 Wednesday, February 21st
🕒 5:00pm ET
📍 ZOOM

At the height of a dramatic reconfiguration of Canada’s film and television funding, the Documentary Organization of Canada releases a major report on the state of documentary production in this country. In this session, DOC will share their findings for the first time, and explain why this latest edition of their “Getting Real” reports could be a game-changer for documentary filmmakers.

The panel will feature Kadon Douglas, Executive Director of BIPOC TV & Film, Owen Sherman, Senior Analyst at Nordicity, and Sarah Spring, Executive Director of DOC. The event will feature a special presentation by Mehernaz Lentin, National Director of Feature Film, Telefilm Canada.

Please note that access is limited to TIFF Industry and Conference passholders.

Thank you to our generous partners who have sponsored Getting Real 7!

DOC is extremely grateful to Nordicity for creating this report

DOC will be present at Gimli International Film Festival!

Growing from DOC’s wonderful meetings with local filmmakers at the Available Light Film Festival this past winter, DOC is looking forward to hear from Manitoba doc-makers as part of DOC’s Strategic Goal to connect with and work to strengthen local Chapters. In this session, DOC National Executive Director Sarah Spring will receive feedback from documentary filmmakers in Manitoba. This will be an opportunity to share ways that DOC National can better serve the documentary sector in the region as DOC shapes the next round of National programs to support filmmakers.

DOC will be present at Gimli International Film Festival!

Growing from our wonderful meetings with local filmmakers at the Available Light Film Festival this past winter, attending Gimli to connect with Manitoba doc-makers is part of DOC’s Strategic Goal to connect with and work to strengthen our local Chapters.

DOC’s principal mandate is to advocate on behalf of documentary creators for a sustainable, equitable, inclusive, fair and functional film industry. This discussion aims to ensure that filmmakers in Manitoba are informed of Federal Policy changes that affect them at ground zero, such as Bill C-11 and changes on the horizon for the cultural funds from Heritage Canada. This discussion will also be led by Joy Loewen, CEO of National Screen Institute

About the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI)

Propelled by a visionary network of donors, private and public organizations, board members
and staff, the National Screen Institute supports creators from across Canada to tell
unforgettable stories. Through industry-informed training and mentoring in film, television
and digital media, students and alumni find their voice and place on the global stage,
inspiring us to shape a better world.

We are committed to training participants from a diverse community of voices including
Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or
questioning and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+), people with disabilities, those outside large urban
centres, those from regional and remote areas and various religious groups.

The Documentary Organization of Canada Atlantic Chapter has partnered with the Lunenburg DOC Fest and DOCTalks Festival & Symposium to present a series of nine conversations in 2023. The next three conversations will take you deeper into the world of  Community Engagement & Alternative Distribution.

Hundreds of documentary films are pitched to broadcasters each year, but most do not receive a CRTC regulator broadcast-streaming license and/or government film agency funding. This lack of access to financing and distribution has led many independent producers to engage with community partners to create, finance and distribute their documentary films using a cross-sector approach. Join us in June as we present three documentary media conversations: i)  Collaborating in a Community of Creators, ii) Producing Social Impact Films,  and iii) Alternative Distribution in Canada.

Alternative Distribution in Canada

Becky Tennyson and Patrick Watt manage two non-profit, CRTC regulated, community TV stations that collectively reach an estimated 800,000 households across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Canada. They will share information about their community TV stations and a new documentary film strand being planned called DOCTalks Presents.

Florence Lamothe and Naomie Decarie are with Tënk, a not-for-profit, independent subscription-based streaming platform, dedicated to the promotion of documentary cinema, and available online across Canada. It was launched in Quebec in February 2020 and they will discuss Tënk’s mission and operations.

The Documentary Organization of Canada Atlantic Chapter has partnered with the Lunenburg DOC Fest and DOCTalks Festival & Symposium to present a series of nine conversations in 2023. The next three conversations will take you deeper into the world of  Community Engagement & Alternative Distribution.

Hundreds of documentary films are pitched to broadcasters each year, but most do not receive a CRTC regulator broadcast-streaming license and/or government film agency funding. This lack of access to financing and distribution has led many independent producers to engage with community partners to create, finance and distribute their documentary films using a cross-sector approach. Join us in June as we present three documentary media conversations: i)  Collaborating in a Community of Creators, ii) Producing Social Impact Films,  and iii) Alternative Distribution in Canada.

Producing Social Impact Films

Hannah Minzloff is a social impact producer who will share her knowledge and experiences about community-based partnerships, funding, distribution and audience engagement through the lens of three documentary media projects. Six primrose – the power of food to build community, Dementia Dad & Me – family experiences with dementia, and Wicked Bodies – queer community eating disorders.

TRUEFAUX’S IMPACT FILMS

Having launched an initiative to normalize conversations about mental health in the Canadian documentary field last autumn, the Documentary Organization of Canada and the team at DocuMentality, with the financial support of the Canada Media Fund, conducted a series of focus groups to assess well-being among documentary industry professionals nationwide.

The findings are being released immediately following the panel, in Canada’s first in-depth analysis of mental health and well-being in the production sector. This session offers insights into their findings, guidance for best practices and testimonies geared toward implementing structural change.

Please note that access is limited to Hot Docs passholders with Industry All-Access Pass | Conference & Networking Pass | Conference Pass.

A contemporary interpretation of the Fair Use provisions of US Copyright law has revolutionized documentary filmmaking in recent years. Working closely with LA law firm Donaldson & Califf, White Pine Pictures has taken advantage of Fair Use provisions in several of their recent films including Buffy Sainte-Marie, Margaret Atwood, Ice-Breaker, All Governments Lie, Toxic Beauty and others.

Join White Pine Pictures President and founder, Peter Raymont to hear about Fair Use in Canadian documentary films.

🗓️ December 6th, 2022
🕔 2:00pm ET